Minnesota Public Radio Stories

• Jan. 1 a common birth date for many immigrants
  With New Year's Day just around the corner, you can be sure that people will make a fuss over any New Year's babies born that day. But it turns out there are far more people with a Jan. 1 birth date than you might think.3:49 p.m.
• Mayo's unique carillon rings over Rochester
  The Rochester carillon is one of the largest in the country and one of only three in Minnesota. The musical instrument consists of 56 bronze bells housed in a tower.3:53 p.m.
• Jan. 1 a common birth date for many immigrants
  With New Year's Day just around the corner, you can be sure that people will make a fuss over any New Year's babies born that day. But it turns out there are far more people with a Jan. 1 birth date than you might think.5:50 p.m.
• Mayo's unique carillon rings over Rochester
  The Rochester carillon is one of the largest in the country and one of only three in Minnesota. The musical instrument consists of 56 bronze bells housed in a tower.5:54 p.m.
• Memorable stories of 2009
  Over the course of a year, Minnesota Public Radio's reporters, producers and hosts talk to hundreds of people from all walks of life. Some make a bigger impression than others. Some stories involve a behind-the-scenes challenge. MPR journalists each selected a story or show that was the most memorable to them.6:15 p.m.

National Public Radio Stories

• U.S. Has Long Kept Watchful Eye On Yemen
  The attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day has thrown a spotlight on the nation of Yemen, after an al-Qaida group that's based there claimed responsibility for the foiled attack. But the United States had already been ramping up its operations in Yemen to counter the al-Qaida threat there.
• Few Clues To Student's Evolution Into Terror Suspect
  Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who has been charged with attempting to blow up an airliner, was a well-mannered and able student, according to his teachers at University College London. He was also president of the campus Islamic Society, but the group says he never expressed any extremist views.
• Leftover Medical Supplies Put To Use Abroad
  U.S. hospitals throw out millions of dollars' worth of unused supplies every year, often because they've been rendered obsolete or simply weren't needed for a particular procedure. Volunteers are finding new homes for these supplies at clinics in the developing world.
• Iranian Dissidents Find Escape Route Through Iraq
  Demonstrations in Iran have been centered in big cities, and so far haven't gained traction in the traditionally rebellious Kurdish province in the northwest of the country. But while Kurdish Iranians don't appear quite ready to join the opposition movement, they do seem to be helping dissidents from Tehran escape to Iraq on their way to Europe.
• U.S.-Israeli Relations Ease, But Peace Process Stalls
  President Obama started the year promising a big push to promote Arab-Israeli peace, but his administration ends the year, as one U.S. official recently put it, in a cul-de-sac. The U.S. has been unable to get Israeli-Palestinian talks started, and many Arab states have been frustrated.
• In A New Biography, Monk Minus The Myth
  Robin D.G. Kelley spent 14 years on a new book, which some are calling the definitive work on a jazz legend. In Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, he portrays the great pianist as a trained musician, a psychiatric case and a father.
• Chertoff Seeks Full-Body Scanners At Airports
  Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is pushing for full-body scanners to be installed at airports in the wake of the attempted terrorist attack aboard an airliner on Christmas Day. Chertoff is also urging investigators to look into why the alleged terrorist did not have his U.S. visa revoked after negative information about him was passed to U.S. officials.
• China Executes Briton Accused Of Smuggling Drugs
  Disregarding international appeals for clemency, China has executed a British citizen on charges of drug smuggling. The man's relatives say he had a history of mental illness and was unwittingly lured into the smuggling operation by drug dealers.
• Hopi Teens Worry About Loss Of Culture
  For nearly 1,000 years, the Hopi people have lived on the same three mesas, land now considered part of northeastern Arizona. For all that time, they have been speaking the Hopi language, which is slowly dying. There are many hurdles standing in the way of preserving Hopi, including, for Hopi teens, the choice between preserving their culture and adopting a modern lifestyle.
• Letters: Sam, Indian, Music For Kids
  Listeners respond to the story on an undocumented 18-year-old who graduated from high school, but can't go to college because of his illegal status; to the description by a passenger on the Detroit-bound flight of a man as Indian; and a review of '90s alt-rockers who make music for kids. Robert Siegel reads from listeners' e-mails.

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